The creature that lay inside the hunk of rose quartz had its eyes open for days-- perhaps even weeks, now --but time was not a thing it comprehended. Not yet. It could not even comprehend that its eyes were even open, for no matter if its eyelids were squeezed shut or wide open, all it saw was a deep, inky blackness. It had always been this way for the creature that lay inside the pink chrysalis.

At first, it had been warm and comfortable. There had been enough room inside its shell that it could sprawl out all limbs (four of them, the creature had concluded) and still have room to shift and stretch. Now, its back was arched uncomfortably and all limbs (perhaps it was five?) were tightly packed into its chest. It had not yet tried to stretch while in this state, for it seemed... dangerous, almost.

There was definitely something imposing about where the creature was. What it had once thought was endless did seem to suddenly have an end, an end that all its limbs (no, it was definitely four) were pressed up against what appeared to be the end of the world. The creature did not know what lay beyond it, nor was it in any particular rush to find out. While this world inside a rose quartz shell was tight and uncomfortable, it was warm and it was safe.

The world out there, it might not be at all.

The creature that lay inside the hunk of rose quartz, which was too long a name for it, really, did not actually have a choice in the matter, whether it liked it or not. There came a time where its limbs (it SURELY must be five?) grew too large and pressed too heavily against the walls of the universe. It did not realise at first, but as the days and the weeks ticked by, it continued to grow and grow. Soon, there came a time where--

CRACK.

... yes, that. There was no light in the world beyond the creature's rose quartz prison, so as the beautiful gemstone prison cracked and burst, the only thing to seep into it was more darkness and aching coldness. As it hit, the small creature inside heaved and pulled itself from the cracked rocks, shifting and finally stretching a tense, cramped body into the open. What remained of the chrysalis cracked and crumbled away under its weight, causing the creature to fall backwards.

It was dark, but not as dark as it had been in the inside of the shell. It could see the faint outline of a mysterious something, something large and elevated and surrounded by decaying walls. The creature had no idea what it was, and all poetry of hatching atop of a throne completely went over its head.

That said, judging by the other long-lost remains of other gemstone chrysalises, this was not a special nor an uncommon occurrence, but to say that the creature even considered this is quite the overstatement. It sat, a wet, white creature of four (yes, fairly sure it's four} limbs in the darkness, ears perked high and nose working quietly. If it could not see, it would rely on all other senses to guide it.

"speech."

Zevruu's leg had mostly healed after the rat incident a few cycles ago, and he now walked through Orion, eyes looking around carefully. It was dark, but his baubled necklace gave him enough light to see, even if just barely. Besides, he liked the dark...Even if it definitely didn't help with his paranoia. But if he couldn't see anyone, they couldn't see him. His baubled necklace wasn't very bright, and the darkness was crowding around him. It wasn't likely anyone could see him from it.

He walked up the stairs that led to the throne without even realizing it until he got to the top. His paws led him here, but why? A crack sounded from nearby, alerting his attention. Did someone hatch nearby? He peered around, trying to see. He stepped a little closer and...there! A little while wolf, clearly newly hatched. He could faintly see the shards of a pink crystal nearby. He observed he wolf as best he could in the dark before sitting down nearby, paws scuffing the ground slightly.

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Kera

It took the creature a long time to adjust. It had gone from safe, secure darkness to a new world that was cold, smelly, and very loud. It even opened its mouth to breathe icy air and it tasted many more things on the outside than there had been in the chrysalis. It was overwhelmed for a long time, but eventually, it pushed itself up and shook the wetness from its fur with a soft whine.

Then, it heard something. A soft scuff across the ground. The white creature shifted with faint alarm, ears lifted as high as they'd go, but it did not know exactly what this sound meant. There were a few dragging moments as the wolf sat, considering its next actions before instinct told it to turn around.

It did so with the elegance of a newborn lamb, which the creature probably wasn't all that far from, in hindsight. It pushed itself up and wobbled along, turning itself around shakily. The process might have been painfully slow, but it was working.

The first thing the canine saw in the darkness was a strange little glowing light. Floating, it seemed, but emitting soft and yellow light. The creature did not know what this thing meant, either, but it was the only thing that wasn't dark and ambiguously forboding. It took a step forward, hesitantly, and sniffed quietly at the area surrounding the warm light.

It stank, too, but this wasn't much of a surprise anymore. It smelled not too different from herself-- there was warmth and fur and life, but much like the noises and the light, she had no idea what this was supposed to mean either. Whatever this light-carrier was, it was in her way.

"What are you doing?" It demanded in a voice that was not intimidating in the slightest. "What's that thing? What is it doing? It is bright."

The pup started pacing in circles-- perhaps bumping into the serval in front of her, or at least coming very close to doing so as it barrelled along in the darkness, nose sniffing obnoxiously loudly. "Who are you? You're weird colours. It's dark."

"speech." @Zevruu

Zevruu watched with just barely enough light as the wolf seemed to turn around at a painstakingly slow process. He sat and waited patiently, however. When she began to sniff around, he flicked an ear. As she spoke, he sighed, albeit just barely. He wasn't good with speaking. He'd gotten much better, and his old stutter was gone, but he still preferred silence. He should have just left the newly hatched alone. He forgot how clueless they could get.

Unfortunately, he had not done so. And now he was here. "It's a light. Makes it so you can see." Short, simple sentences. That would be best. He watched as she began to circle, bumping into him briefly a few times. He grunted, but said nothing more until she did. "I am Zevruu. And it's dark because the lights are out. Why they're out again, I'll never know." He also didn't care. He honestly quite liked the dark. And he didn't comment on how he had "weird colors." Wolf couldn't see clearly, and everything was likely a muted brown.

"If you want to see, I can use magic to make it lighter in here."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Kera

The pup considered, briefly. "A light," she grumbled. "Where do I get a light? I want to see. It's dark." She stopped pacing once she got to the front of the sevral again, staring up at the baubled stone while she lowered herself unevenly onto her haunches, tail thumping hollowly against the ground.

"Zevruu. I'm Kera," she half-blurted out, not entirely sure where she even got this word from. "Do they go out all the time? How do you get them back? I can go fix them. How do you fix them?" She begun to ramble just a touch, though the prospect of helping and doing something that would likely help others began to ignite something of a fire in her belly (though she didn't really know what a fire was-- not yet) and she found her paws kneading excitedly and impatiently at the ground as she went over her mind the idea of helping and making things better for others. She could be the best. People would like her. She could have friends. She'd be a hero.

She almost didn't hear Zevruu speak further, ears flicking once she realised that words had been thrown out into the air. "Oh, yes!" Her eyes would be sparkling, if there was adequate light for it. "I'd like to see. How do you make it lighter? I'd like to make it lighter, too."

"speech" @Zevruu

Zevruu flicked an ear. Kera. He quickly stored that name in his memory, though he'd likely forget it after they had separated. As she rambled for a bit, he stayed silent, waiting for her to finish. When she had, he spoke. "This is only the second time they've gone out. I don't know how the others got them back on, and I don't particularly care." There was an edge to his voice, though he continued. "I don't think someone as young as yourself could really do much. But hey, who knows? Maybe something like this will happen again."

As Kera said she wanted a light, he nodded briefly, mind going through which spell he could use. He finally settled on the one that should give the most light. He focused on his gem, trying to draw the light out. Soon, without any trouble at all, an orb of light began to appear. He focused on it, and it began to glow softly, providing the two enough light to see with. "I made that with magic. I don't know what element you have, so I don't know if you could do this."

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | @Kera

Kera watched Zevruu for a very long moment, ears twisting thoughtfully. He didn't care? Why? If others were working to get the lights back on, why wasn't this one working to do so? Why didn't he care if the lights came back on? Did he put them out in the first place? Why? No-- surely if he was offering to create light, he was trying to help people against the darkness. Or, perhaps, he put them out so people would want to rely on him and his light more often.

Kera did not know. Her shaggy, damp fur bristled under all the thoughts and the questions, but she did not voice a single one. Her jaws were clenched tightly until the serval continued. "It doesn't matter how young I am," she said, barely ten minutes old and holding her head high. "I'm gonna go figure it out. I'm gonna put the lights back on. When they go out again, I'll put them back on again. I'll figure it out."

She tried to be brave. She tried to sound brave, though she was too young to convey it. There was a difference between an older creature declaring they'd fix everything and a ten-minute-old pup declaring they'd fix everything, but Kera was not aware of this. Not yet. Perhaps there was some kind of tragedy in that, but again-- Kera was not aware of that, or what "tragedy" even meant.

Her attention was quickly taken by a softly-glowing orb of light that illuminated the area. She saw the throne in full, now-- and Zevruu, and the path around them, the rocks. Sight was an amazing thing, she soon realised-- she had to get the lights back on so that everyone could experience light.

With her tail thumping against the ground rapidly, she watched the orb with a doggish grin, ear flicking towards Zevruu briefly. "Element?" she asked. "Everyone can do something? How do they find out? How did you find out that you can make light?" She turned her gaze towards Zevruu again, grin fading and tail coming to a halt, curling around her paws. Perhaps she could make lights-- it'd likely make turning them back on a lot easier, but if not, what would she do, and what was she capable of doing? How could it help?

Kera did not know.

"speech" @Zevruu

There was a long pause. Kera stared off for an even longer moment into the darkness, thoughtful-- or as thoughtfully as a newborn could be --before she came to exactly three conclusions.

The first: if this Zevruu-creature were truly evil, and had turned out the lights for his own gain, why was Kera sitting here talking to the enemy?

The second: Kera would be the hero to turn the lights back on. She didn't know how, or where to start, but she knew that she would do it one way or another. No questions.

The third: she wasn't going to get anything done here, standing there, talking to the enemy.

Probably the enemy. Kera wasn't so sure, but she didn't have the time to stay and find out.

Without another word, the newly-hatched wolf pup bounded off into the darkness, white brush tail high behind her. She did not know where she was going but she knew it was probably off to do Great Things in Great Places.

She'd likely be dead in a week.

-exit-
(exiting thread for inactivity and a Great Need to wrap up threads asap)

Zevruu flicked an ear, and the ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "I'm sure you'll do great things." He wasn't going to stop her if she wanted to be some hero. While being a hero didn't appeal to him - it never really did - he wasn't going to prevent someone from doing what they wanted to.

As she continued to speak, he kept his gaze focused on the orb of light. Letting his gaze wander away from it would make it go away, and he didn't want that, not when he was talking to the young wolf. He flicked an ear again, tail tip flipping lightly, as he tried to decide what to say next. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, however, the wolf got up without a word and just left. He closed it, watching as bounded off into the darkness. He watched for a moment, orb still in sight, albeit just barely.

With a full glance at the light, he soon turned away, letting the light crumble and disappear. He didn't need the light. He knew the area like the back of his paw. He could maneuver it without something to guide him. And he did just that.

-exit Zevruu-

"Speech" l 'Thoughts' | may as well exit this thread too. get that magicka whooo. (also rip sorry i didnt respond for a while aha)